Friday, March 20, 2015

Celebrating the Spring Equinox and all the Opportunities that brings

We are celebrating the Spring Equinox once again. What a wonderful time of the year as nature bursts with new life, shedding the old and decayed that covered it through the winter months. Buds are opening and beautiful flowers spring forth with their fragrant beauty, dotting the landscape with spectacular color. Some trees display clusters of pinks and whites while others share new foliage as splashes of green come into our view. Taking a deep breath of spring air refreshes the soul, but for some it creates uncomfortable experiences like sneezing, watery eyes, and stuffy noses. Such it is in our life. We are continually given the opportunity to spring forth with new life, but we first must shed the old and decayed that are covering our forward movement. Sometimes the steps we take can be uncomfortable and create experiences that are not pleasant, but that is all part of the journey. In the end, however, with perseverance and willingness through the cycles in our life, we can burst forth with new vitality and life, and heal.From the time we take our first breath we are being conditioned and programmed with certain beliefs and patterns from the people in our life. We accept them as truth because that’s all we know. As we grow into adulthood, we continue to accumulate more beliefs from those around us, and most of these are formed from negativity. Those beliefs belong to other individuals and have been born from the fears of this world, yet we have adopted them as truth for us with little if any thought. Those negative patterns and beliefs create imbalance within us because they are fear-based and do not resonate with our Divine essence of love. Those beliefs are products of the ego mind and its thought-forms, and listening to and following the ways of the ego are never truth, they are illusion.When we experience disorders and disease in our physical form, there is always a core in our mental and emotional universe. This is how it works. First there is the thought that originates from the beliefs of someone else that we accept. This affects our mental body, which spills into the emotional body - our feelings (heart). It is a shadowing from the illusion of someone else but we accept it because we do not recognize it as their illusional truth, and it becomes our truth. This fear-based, negative belief alienates us from our spiritual body because it doesn’t resonate with our true essence, which is unconditional love. Now there is no escape and the tracks begin showing up in our physical body as anxiety, worry, anger, blame, disenchantment, stress, procrastination, restlessness, unhappiness and ultimately disorders and disease. “But,” you say, “isn’t that all part of living on this earth?” It certainly doesn’t have to be. You were born with your truth inside, and the power of choice within you, so it’s really all up to you. When things drop onto our path that feel like pain or a challenge, they are actually a lesson to help us grow into someone stronger with greater awareness. However, the lesson is often discarded and without the release of that pain it will continue to gain momentum inside of us until the day it erupts with a loud explosion as angry behavior, illness or even violence. So how does a person remove the negative, unhealthy patterns and beliefs so they can heal their life? If a person is honest, they will tell you they long for a life of joy, happiness, peace, fulfillment, and vibrant health. Healing has many facets. Although the symptoms and reactions have appeared in the physical realm, there is always a core issue in the emotional realm, so that is where we must begin. The first aspect of healing is to recognize there is a problem. Part of this is acceptance of your accountability to make the necessary changes. Addictive behavior of any kind requires the recognition and acceptance that there is a problem that needs to be healed. Once you’ve accepted the truth of where you are, the next step is possible.The second step is deciding you are ready and willing to make changes; that you really want to heal. Many people say they want to make changes, but often they are just words and do not align with what they really feel. They resist change. Perhaps the words are uttered for the other people around them. Once you know you are ready and willing, you are ready to release the old programming so you can accept new thoughts, the third step. We refer to this as letting go, releasing your hold on whatever isn’t working in your life, the fear-based negativity. This step is comparable to the shedding of old decaying coverings that allow the trees and flowers to burst forth with new life each spring. As we shed the old patterns and beliefs, we allow the new to enter our hearts and minds. Willingness to move into new territory lets go of resistance.Once the belief is released, then it’s time for new growth. New growth requires nurturing and the benefits of the elements, the fourth step. For new growth in the human life, forgiveness is one of the necessary elements. This forgiveness is for yourself and any blame or anger you have held in your account: old pain and hurt, feelings of retaliation, feeling like a victim, or low self-worth. After forgiving yourself, you are ready to forgive those in your life whom you feel have done something to you. Forgiveness frees you completely so you can open to all the new.Another element needed for new growth is to release the need to be right. When you feel you need to defend yourself to preserve your dignity and worth, you are listening to the ego and fighting to feel better about yourself.
In the long run, since each person has their own truth, it makes no difference whether you feel you are “right” or not, because each person is right! When you don’t feel the need to be right, you are peaceful and free. Once you’ve forgiven and released the need to be right, freedom prevails. The freedom to grow allows for new ideas and truths to be incorporated into your heart. What do you want for your life? Joy? Peace? Happiness? Fulfillment? Excitement? Vibrant Health? The fifth step is simply allowing the good into your life and knowing you deserve it. Allowing is something that doesn’t come easy for most of us. We want to make it happen and force something into being. Allowing doesn’t do anything, it simply waits for it all to unfold. Just as the plant or tree does nothing to grow except allow the sun, rain and soil nutrients to be absorbed into its roots, so is it for us. Once you’ve decided what you want in your life, the secret is to simply allow it to come to you, doing nothing. Healing takes time and has many layers. Just about the time you think you’ve completed the healing process, something happens that tells you there are still things needing to be released. Like the onion, there are many layers, and as you peel away one layer, another emerges. However, do not be discouraged, for this is the continuous process as long as you live on this earth. But what happens is over time, as layers are peeled away, the healing time becomes shorter in duration and incidents become fewer and spread further apart. And you recognize what is happening and do not remain in the negative space for very long. Healing your life requires many facets in order for you to shine. A diamond must be cleaned and the non-valuable parts chiseled or scraped away. Then it takes time to polish and buff the diamond so it can shine. Like the diamond, you require cleaning, chiseling, discarding, polishing and buffing so you can shine. So while it may not appear that this diamond is magnificent, after the process is complete it is indeed a masterpeice. The healing that takes place in your life has one purpose, and that is to make you shine with brilliant magnificence!Rev Dr. Carolyn Porter

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CHANGE

"I think my most significant personal revelation is that life changes hour by hour and minute by minute, like the constant flowing of a river. I am not quite the same person today that I was yesterday: small aspects of me have changed physically and mentally. I will change a little more by tomorrow, and a great deal more in the course of the future years.

To try to hang on to one particular section of life, such as the one I am experiencing in this moment, is foolish; it can't be done, and if it could be done, it would not be worthwhile. Change is much of the essence of life. Death is the final change. We can not hold on even to a day; how, then, can we capture life itself? Perhaps our whole awareness of individuality, of self, is an illusion. If so, it is better not to grasp unduly at that illusion, but rather to live our lives in such a manner that when we must at last lay them down, we will not be ashamed. Life has meaning only if we live for meaning."